N-W Greenway funds approved

The
Niagara River Greenway Host Communities Standing Committee on Oct. 4 approved
$6.1 million for improvements to the Niagara-Wheatfield High School campus, including
a new nature trail.

The
project is part of an $11 million capital improvement bond issue approved by
school district voters last fall under the stipulation that the $6 million
portion of the project would not go forward unless Greenway funds were approved.

The
planned 2.2-mile Cayuga Creek Nature Trail will offer members of the community
use of a bike and walking path, and a greenway that is designed to provide and
increase physical and visual access to and from the water, fields and related
recreational facilities for a full range of users, including youth, senior
citizens and people with special needs, according to NW's School Business
Executive Kerin Dumphrey. The trail will go behind the high school and middle
school and along Cayuga Creek, then loop back in front of the campus.

A
spur off the trail will be the confidence course, a series of challenging
physical tests that will be located behind the high school/middle school, made
of timber, ropes and other materials that will challenge students physically,
beginning with low risk activities and progressing to more difficult
challenges.

The
trail plan also includes a lighted parking lot, playground, added plantings and
security measures for the site including cameras. In addition, school facilities
that are used by public groups and residents as well as students, like the
grandstand (built in the 1960s), the concession stands, outdoor restrooms and
locker rooms, and the all-weather track, are all slated for replacement or
improvements as part of the Greenway funding.

"It's
being designed as we speak," Dumphrey said Wednesday. He expects bids to go out
early in 2012 and most of the work to be done in the spring, summer and fall.

The
New York Power Authority's Greenway funds are designed to improve tourism,
recreation and the environment. Dumphrey said N-W's project obviously addresses
recreation and the environment. Improvements also will allow the school
district to host tournaments or co-host tournaments with the district's towns.

"Once
this trail is established, I think it will be a tourist attraction in itself,"
he said. "It will be a nice park like atmosphere for people to come to and
enjoy."

•Bullying
was among the topics discussed at the Oct. 5 N-W Board of Education meeting.

Sanborn
resident RoseMary Warren's suggestion of a confidential tip line to report
bullying incidents was supported by board member Kathy Fleming.

Warren
also said she thought gym teachers and coaches could stop a lot of bullying and
suggested that one period a day they be available to talk with students
concerned about bullying.

In
other matters, board member Rich Halleen requested that board meetings be
recorded for minutes, so they would be more complete, and possibly even filmed
as some town governments already do.